Sunday, June 10, 2007

Check out this wreck during todays Canadian Grand Prix. Robert Kubica got off the track and went airborne at a high rate of speed, the BMW-Sauber was shredded.

Miraculously, the current word is that he has a slight concussion and a sprained ankle. I got choked up a bit when I saw it happened live, sick to my stomach. I thought that I had just witnessed his death.

Motor racing as a whole is inherently dangerous but there have been tremendous advances in safety. Back in the day, the drivers didn't even have seatbelt, believing that it was better to be thrown than to stick with the car. They were probably right, the cars were gas cans with engines and a driver on top. Quite a few lost their lives back then.

Today the drivers are encased in a carbon fiber monocoque 'tub' that houses the driver and a fuel tank made out of a flexible kevlar balloon. The car can shred up to the tub, absorbing energy, but the driver should be protected. The gas tank, being flexible, can distort without bursting, preventing dangerous fires.

As you can seen in the video, these things did their jobs. He came out of that shunt better than many quarterbacks did versus Lawrence Taylor. Way better than Theisman...

Thank God.

Nice to see Lewis Hamilton get his first win. At age 22 he has a long was to go, but he has the makings of something special. Third place in his first race, second in the next four, and a win today. Not too shabby.

Ten years from now we may be saying "Michael who?".

***Update***It looks like F1 management is pulling videos off of YouTube so the video no longer works. Here is one shot by a spectator, even more spectacular.

I am still in awe that he was barely nicked up. He walked out today with just a slight limp, got in a X5 and drove himself away.

Here is a shot of the accident.... I believe you see his foot sticking out the front. Chilling.